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The Forum > Article Comments > 'Died by Suicide' or 'Committed Suicide'? > Comments

'Died by Suicide' or 'Committed Suicide'? : Comments

By Brooke Murphy, published 7/6/2016

The word 'committed' does not just mean that someone performed an action, but is connected with crime.

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We commit to marriage.
Posted by Cobber the hound, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 9:18:20 AM
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In every contract, we commit to carry out certain acts in return for other parties committing to do the same.

Commit = agree to = promise = undertake = carry out = do. This is a beat-up.

Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 9:57:36 AM
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A person doesn't just die from suicide, they kill themselves.
So I think committed suicide is a fair enough way of commenting on a suicide.

There is no point in lumping it in with all the other deaths a human can have, when it is obviously self-harm as the cause.
It beats me how it was ever an offense to commit suicide anyway, when you can hardly prosecute them after they are dead
Posted by Suseonline, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 10:05:56 AM
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Hi Suse,

Presumably, if suicide is illegal, one can be prosecuted for bungling one's suicide, although I haven't heard of that happening, at least not for a very long time.

Of course, 'assisted' suicide is something else altogether.

Cheers,

Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 10:10:13 AM
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Perhaps the definition of 'commit' would help.

1. Perpetrate or carry out (a mistake, crime, or immoral act): 'he committed an uncharacteristic error'

2. Pledge or bind (a person or an organization) to a certain course or policy: 'they were reluctant to commit themselves to an opinion'

(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/commit)

Joe and Cobber appear to be interpreting the word 'commit' in the sense of binding oneself to an agreement.

However, when the author speaks of ‘committing’, clearly she means to ‘perpetrate’ or ‘carry out’. Which would make more sense. People don’t really ‘pledge’ or ‘bind’ themselves to suicide, they carry it out, and the word ‘commit’ has negative and criminogenic connotations.

So I think Brooke Murphy has a point, and brushing that off by interpreting 'commit' in a different sense to what she was, particularly when she was addressing the the correct sense sense of the word, is equivocation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivocation)
Posted by AJ Philips, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 10:34:40 AM
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'Died by suicide' is as unnecessary as 'committed suicide'. Just apply the verb in the past tense: 'suicided'. It's simple and it saves ink.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Tuesday, 7 June 2016 10:41:47 AM
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